A Return to Italy ~ The Lagoon Islands of Venice - May 11 - 13, 2025

 From Tuscany to Venice

May 11, 2025

We left Villa Il Patriarca and made our way to the train station for the trip to Venice. I managed to find a direct train, Trenitalia #588, leaving Chiusi-Chianciano Terme at 12:10 and arriving in Mestre at 16:16 (4:16 pm). Our hotel, Best Western Hotel Bologna, is one we have stayed in before and is a short five-minute walk from the station.

Best Western Plus Hotel Bologna

We got ourselves checked in,  relaxed for a bit, and then walked around the block to Pasta and Pizza, where we each got a pizza - margherita pizza for Jeff con una birra (with a beer), and a verdura (vegetable) pizza con una demi bottiglia di Chardonnay for me. 

It was a lovely evening, so we sat outside and watched the traffic go by,  seeing travellers come and go, and just enjoyed our food.

Enjoying Dinner at Pasta and Pizza in Venice Mestre

We headed back to the hotel to relax and read before bed. I worked some on the Chiui portion of the blog, and then we slept.

May 12, 2025

Murano and San Michele

I had an ambitious plan to see the lagoon islands of Murano and San Michele today, but alas, time and fatigue got the best of us, so we managed only Murano.  The Isola di San Michele, located in the lagoon close to Venice, has been the city’s cimitero (cemetery) since the early nineteenth century. Formerly two islands, which are now joined together, the Isola di San Michele (St. Michael) is dedicated to the dead and is occupied only by churches and long ranks of tombs. 

There are two churches on the island, the large Chiesa di San Michele in Isola and the smaller San Cristoforo. San Michele was designed by Mauro Codussi in the 1460s and was one of the earliest Renaissance churches in Venice, with a white facade of Istrian marble overlooking the lagoon. The Cappella Emiliani, adjoins the church and can be admired through a doorway at the back of the church. This chapel is perched on the edge of the lagoon, although metal barriers protect it from some of the wash from passing boats. 

Cappelli di Emiliani

I was looking forward to visiting this island, but we opted not to in favor of heading straight to Murano. Murano is known for its glassmaking, and my mother brought me a lovely vase that she acquired in Murano on one of her early bus tours of Italy. We had tickets for the glass museum there, and after stopping for a small bite to eat (bruschetta), some much-needed water (for me), and a beer for Jeff, we headed for the museum.

Bruschetta and a Beer

One of many school groups we have seen on this trip

We wandered a bit to find the museum, passing shop after shop with glass goodies - few of which appealed. I did see some lovely etched pink water glasses that called my name, but the 38 euro per glass price tag and the fact that getting them home would be nerve jangling had me walking away.  They were pretty, though.

Finally, we reached our destination - the Museo del Vetro!

Museo del Vetro

I was wishing for some sort of video to introduce us to the museum, but they did have large panels of information in Italian and English on the walls of each of the eight or nine rooms.

Some highlights from our strolls from room to room:

I loved this purple bowl!

I also loved the green/gold swirly bowl, and couldn't resist a photo of the glass trumpet!

We wandered out to the museum's garden for a few more delights, including several amazingly beautiful trees in a peaceful setting where we sat and listened to birdsong as we each recalled the beauty of the glass.

This tree made me think of my friend, Betty Lou, who loves trees

We decided to make our way back to the vaporetto for the return to the railway station in Venice. We meandered in the general direction (we hoped), stopping to rest along the way.

We were more than a little relieved to see the water of the lagoon after making several turns down alleys that ended in walls or buildings!  

We got on the vaporetto back to the train station without difficulty and then caught the train back to the hotel in Mestre - it's a ten-minute train ride, and trains leave about every three minutes, so it's really convenient (and less expensive) to stay there.

We hadn't had any lunch, other than that tiny piece of bruschetta, so we walked across the street to a restaurant called Soul Kitchen,  only to be told that they didn't open for dinner until 7:00, so we went up to the room and had a glass of the white wine we were given in Montepulciano.  

When we returned at about 7:30, Jeff ordered the lasagna and a huge salad; I had also ordered the lasagna and a dish that included rustic bread, a compote of cherry tomatoes, and two small balls of burrata. We asked that the "salads be served first" - Jeff's salad came; mine did not. We later realized that the waiter never wrote down my lasagne. Oh well ... my salad was quite good.

Jeff's ginormous salad (it was delicious)

Dinner at Soul Kitchen

As we sat and ate our dinner, the thunder clapped, lightning flashed, and it poured rain. We dashed through the raindrops back across the street and into our hotel for a good night's sleep

May 13, 2025

Burano and Mazzorbo

Today's goal was to visit three more islands in the Venetian Lagoon - two of which we had visited before, and one (Torcello) that we had not visited on our last trip. However, we only made it to Burano and Mazzorbo before the fatigue factor set in, and we decided to call it a day.

After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, we took the train from Mestre to Venezia Santa Lucia. The vaporetto took us to Burano, famous for its lace-making and colorful homes!  Again, the day was sunny and warm - almost too warm at times, causing us to seek shade and water!

Bepi's House

All the houses of Burano are colored, but the house of Bepi Suà (known as "Bepi of Candies") is the most colorful house of the island: decorated with circles, squares, and triangles in the colors of the rainbow. Bepi's given name was Giuseppe Toselli, and he was a movie buff - a passion born when he worked as a janitor at the Cinema Favin. When the cinema was closed, he began to sell sweets in Burano's Galuppi Square: hence the name of Bepi of Candies.

In the summertime, Bepi would hang a white sheet on the wall of his house and show outdoor movies. Since his death, the house has been restored, but the outside remains unchanged.

The houses give the town a cheery, free-and-easy feel, but they actually follow a regimented color scheme, and residents must have any new paint approved by the local government.

Burano is also famous for lace making. We weren't able to visit the lace museum the last time we were here, as it is closed on Mondays. However, this time, I planned accordingly, and we made it to the museum. As we entered, a video was playing that provided an interesting history of lace making. It ended with a young woman conducting an interview with a circle of women lace makers. Watching them work gave me an appreciation of the intricacy and time-consuming task of lace making -- it's no wonder that handmade lace is so expensive!

Canal in Burano

Museo del Merletto (Lace Museum)

Handmade Lace Fan

Shops Everywhere Selling Lace and Other Goods

A church bell tower leans somewhat precariously over the island and helps to orient people to the town.

Bell Tower of the Chiesa di San Martino

We took the footbridge (called Ponte Lungho, or long bridge) over to Isola Mazzorbo. 

Artichokes

Tired and a little bit sweaty, we headed back to the train station, where we stopped for some liquid refreshment before heading back to the hotel for a rest before returning to Soul Kitchen for a bite to eat.

Tomorrow we leave Venezia for Verona!  

L'avventura continua!